President's Award for Outstanding Research

The President's Award for Outstanding Research recognizes researchers who have made outstanding contributions to their scholarly disciplines. Each award includes a $5,000 research grant.

Dr. Joan Crane, Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Joan Crane graduated from Memorial's Faculty of Medicine in 1989 and in 1994 completed residency training in obstetrics and gynecology through Memorial and Dalhousie University. She went on to complete a fellowship in maternal fetal medicine at Dalhousie in 1996 and a M.Sc. in community health and epidemiology in 1998. Dr. Crane is an associate professor in obstetrics and gynecology at Memorial's Faculty of Medicine, practicing maternal fetal medicine with a cross-appointment in clinical epidemiology. Her research interests include induction of labour, preterm birth prediction and prevention and the use of randomized clinical trials. She has over
80 peer reviewed publications and abstracts, and has received national and international awards from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
One of her co-workers praised Dr. Crane's "outstanding" contribution to research. "Dr. Crane has managed to carry out a very large amount of research, generate grants, and teach critical appraisal and research methods, while at the same time being an excellent clinician."

Barbara Hunt, Visual Arts

Barbara Hunt studied art at the University of Manitoba, receiving a visual art diploma with a thesis in printmaking in 1982. She established herself as a practicing artist in Winnipeg in the 1980s. She then studied at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, in Vancouver in the early 1990s, and in 1994 received an MFA degree from Concordia University with a concentration in sculpture, ceramics and fibres. There are close ties between Newfoundland and Ireland and, as a descendent of Irish pioneers, she was taught the textile skills expected of women. Living in Newfoundland with its rich tradition of textile practices has inspired her to focus on these practices and materials in her art and research. "Using textiles allows me to express my interest in the routines of everyday domesticity, the cycles of life and death, and the rituals of mourning," explained Ms. Hunt. "In my art practice I attempt to mend separation and to reveal and recuperate the 'feminine' which historically has been discredited. By giving value to the humble and the hand-made, I hope to recuperate lost histories and encourage the reconsideration of traditional rituals within a contemporary context."

Ms. Hunt has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Arts Councils of Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec. She has carried out research in residencies in Canada, Paris and Ireland. She currently teaches sculpture and drawing at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College.

Dr. Brian Veitch, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science

Dr. Brian Veitch joined the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science in July 1998 as the Terra Nova Project Junior Chair. His goal was to generate new research activity relevant to the offshore petroleum sector, under the broad mantle of ocean environmental risk engineering. In his six years at Memorial, he has developed multidisciplinary research programs that encompass both risks to the ocean environment due to petroleum industry operations, and risks to personnel and installation safety posed by the ocean environment. Dr. Veitch has partnered successfully on many major projects with a wide network of other researchers in the university and beyond. It is the collaborative atmosphere generated by his colleagues and students that he says fosters innovation and provides an exciting, supportive learning environment.

Dr. James Hiller

Dr. James Hiller has been a member of the History department since the early 1970s and served as the department head in the 1980s. His teaching fields have included Atlantic Canada, British and British imperial history, and architectural history. Dr. Hiller's major research area is the history of Newfoundland and Labrador since the 18th century. His work has included studies of the Moravian Mission in Labrador, the colony's political history, the railway, the development of the pulp and paper industry and the confederation period, 1945-49. Besides publishing articles on these topics, Dr. Hiller has written numerous entries for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, the Oxford Companion to Canadian History and other reference works. Assisted by the late Dr. Michael Harrington, he edited the debates and papers of the National Convention, 1946-48. He also co-authored, with Dr. Margaret Conrad, the first comprehensive single volume history of the four Atlantic Provinces. A Region in the Making was awarded a Clio Prize by the Canadian Historical Association. Dr. Hiller has acted as a consultant to the federal and provincial governments and is a former president of the Newfoundland Historical Society. His current projects include an edition of the hitherto unpublished debates of the Newfoundland legislature, 1932-33, an outline history of the Petit Nord concentrating on the impact of the French presence there, and a history of responsible government in Newfoundland from 1855-1914.

Dr. Brajendra C. Sutradhar

Dr. Brajendra C. Sutradhar is an outstanding Canadian researcher in statistical science. Since obtaining his PhD in 1984 from the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Sutradhar has made leading contributions to the study of statistics. Dr. Sutradhar is a world leader in three areas: longitudinal data analysis; generalized linear mixed models; and modeling data by using multivariate elliptical t distributions. He has published over 70 papers in international and national journals and delivered over 40 invited lectures at conferences around the world. He is held in high standing by the statistical community for his professional services that include his membership on the prestigious Advisory Committee on Statistical Methods of Statistics Canada for three years, membership on the NSERC grant selection committee, an associate editor for the Canadian Journal of Statistics.